How to link your MSDN benefits to Azure portal

As I am finding out, to be able to submit a support request from Azure portal, you are required to select Issue Type, Subscription and Support Plan. In my case, Support Plan drop down didn’t have anything I can use as I haven’t linked any existing benefits yet.

If your Azure subscription is enabled as a part of your MSDN benefits, you need to first check if your subscription is eligible for technical support incidents, you will see an item on your subscription benefits page when you log on to MSDN:

Depending on where you are in the world, the process may be different. I had to call a support phone number and request the support personnel to setup a support contract for my MSDN subscription. I provided them with my MSDN subscription ID and was told I will get a call soon. I have to say it didn’t take them long to call back, and I was provided with Access ID and Contract ID. I was also told how many technical incidents I was eligible for. Primarily, as an MSDN subscriber, you will be asked to open support cases from http://support.microsoft.com/oas. Only if the portal is down, you can call phone support (or so was I told).

If you are Premier customer, process to get Access ID and Contract ID may be different. Check with your TAM or call support.

Now that I have required information, I proceeded with creating a link with my benefits in Azure. From Azure portal (make sure you are on new portal at http://portal.azure.com), select “Help+Support”. This will bring you to help and support screen, where “Link Existing Benefits” is one of the options:

When you click on that option, a new blade will open asking you to provide Access ID and Contract ID:

Provide the required information and click Link. If all goes well, you should see “Contract Linked” message right below the Link button:

At this point, you can create a support incident using your linked contract.

If you have multiple contracts linked, you can select one you want to use for given support issue. I also noticed that I was able to use any of my contracts regardless of Azure subscription I was trying to open a case for.